State says Pleasant Street in Worcester was reconfigured for safety

WORCESTER — The state Department of Transportation said it reconfigured the lanes along Pleasant Street to address speeding and general safety concerns, and to add bike-friendly shoulders.

According to MassDOT spokesman Michael Verseckes during the recent resurfacing of Pleasant from the Paxton line to South Olean Street, the state took the opportunity to reduce the number of southbound lanes from two to one.

The new cross-section consists of two 11-foot travel lanes going north, one 12-foot travel lane going south, and two 5-foot shoulders to accommodate bicycle travel, Mr. Verseckes said in an email Monday.

"Over the years, we have fielded numerous inquiries regarding the lack of shoulders on the roadway, high vehicle speeds particularly in the southbound direction, and a general lack of safety along this section of roadway," Mr. Verseckes wrote.

He said the new configuration is consistent with MassDOT's healthy transportation policy, GreenDOT policy, complete streets policy and other state and federal policies pertaining to bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Observed speeds in the southbound direction are lower under the new configuration, Mr. Verseckes wrote.

Concerns have been raised over how traffic will be affected and how the U.S. Postal Service will safely be able to deliver mail with the new configuration. Mr. Verseckes wrote that MassDOT is working with the post office to address those concerns; some options include using side streets to park mail vehicles and walking parts of the route, and the use of cluster mailboxes, he wrote.

District 5 City Councilor Gary Rosen said the solution is simple: Go back to the way it was.

"Two up, two down," Mr. Rosen said.

He said the new setup is an accident, or even a tragedy, waiting to happen. Additional police enforcement can be used to slow down traffic, he said. He said under the old setup, cars could coast down Pleasant Street in the right lane and safely turn right, while motorists wishing to turn left could use the left lane. Now, motorists who need to turn end up backing up traffic behind them. It could be an invitation for someone to swerve into oncoming traffic, he said.

"Forget the experiment," Mr. Rosen said. "Let's err on the side of public safety."